Toronto-based GoGoNews, the online news resource for children, has launched GoGoNews.com, an interactive web site featuring daily news for school children ages seven to 13 years old. GoGoNews.com features popular headlines from mainstream media with filtered content, informing children of global events while simultaneously protecting them from images and story details appropriate for more mature audiences. In addition to breaking news, GoGoNews covers Science, Art, Government, Politics and Geography, offering fun facts and stories that capture children’s attention and encourage exploration of new subjects.

Designed to provide parents and teachers with interesting topics to engage children in conversation and expand their knowledge, GoGoNews provides a safe means for addressing the harsh realities of today’s world. The site is organized in stories that are packed with facts but concise enough to keep young readers engaged and hungry for the next article. The news articles can be readily accessed with the site’s simple and intuitive navigation:

Headlines – covers breaking newsCool & Fun – contains items like brain teasers, puzzles and jokesPicks – is filled with editor’s and children’s recommendations on top books, toys, and gift ideasPlanet – feature interesting facts about space and the environmentTalk – provides a forum for kids and parents to post feedback, comments and ideasTeach – offers suggestions for parents and educators on how to approach difficult news topics and innovative ways to introduce new lessons

“We created GoGoNews to inform kids about world events in a safe manner, feeding their young, inquisitive minds with real news, while also protecting them from content that is too sophisticated or beyond their

Golnar Khosrowshahi

comprehension,” said Golnar Khosrowshahi, founder and editor in chief of GoGoNews. “As a parent, I want my children to grow up and be educated in a global context; to think of countries near and far as their neighbors who do things just a little differently. I believe that the next generation of leaders will be those who have grown up connected to the world around them intellectually, academically and socially. With GoGoNews, we are creating the opportunity for children to improve their literacy, gain a new vocabulary and learn about different people, countries, and cultures in a fun and entertaining format.”

Khosrowshahi started GoGoNews in 2007 for her then five-year-old twin daughters after they saw a newspaper cover with a devastating photograph of a little girl after an earthquake in Pakistan. Rather than ignoring her daughters’ ensuing questions and finding them an alternative distraction, Khosrowshahi explained earthquakes and the types of damage they can cause.

The interest, emotions and discussion that followed inspired Khosrowshahi to create a daily online newsletter for her girls. The result was a compilation of culled headlines and relevant data that encouraged conversation about what they read, learned and felt about the news. The newsletter quickly gained a following among family, friends and elementary schools and led to the creation of GoGoNews.com, which, unlike other similarly branded news sources geared for children, is updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Today, GoGoNews is compiled by an editorial team, with consultation and input from an advisory board that includes teachers, child psychologists, curriculum specialists and various educators who guide classroom discussion and materials and advise on the treatment of stories about natural disaster. GoGoNews is currently being syndicated to elementary schools throughout the United States and Canada via the newsletter, GoGo On The Go.